Rei Elle Maelstrom

Hi there, I’m Arielle, or as my book says, Rei Elle Maelstrom. I'm a writer and the author/ creator of Chrysalis. But my interests and passions are many and ever-growing! Outside of writing, I am a cat parent, an artist, an anatomist, a scientific illustrator, a vocalist, a gamer, and an educator. I feel strongly about defending the underrepresented/ those in need. And protecting the environment, while living harmoniously with nature and the various species making up the world's diverse ecosystems. But, me as a writer... I’ve loved writing for as long as I can remember. Before I could write sentences, I would draw stories through pictures. As I started writing stories through words, most of these fell flat after a few chapters. From about age ten to young teenager, I tried my hand at the classics: murder mystery, dragon fantasy adventure, vampires, ghosts and afterlife. I’ve dabbled in poetry as well, and loosely song writing. Growing up without any lasting or close connections, stories were how I worked through and communicated my emotions. It provided a safe space for me, much like music and fine art did. Through writing, singing/ music, and various mediums of fine art, I could understand myself, and hopefully reach others as well. However, it wasn’t until age 16, that I started my first finished novel, Knightingale. Over the years I edited this book on and off. As a nerd, it was difficult to make much time for it, considering I was dedicated to my medical/ scientific art studies in highschool and university. Life was also a persistently unforgiving obstacle, with unsafe/ traumatic living situations since childhood, sad finances, a cocktail of mental illnesses, etc. I navigated this mostly alone, which has led me to often relate to the antagonist-adjacent characters in media, but that’s a story for another time. As I grew older, Knightingale’s MC-kun Liam grew with me. This led to me rewriting and editing the story quite a bit. It wasn’t until my mid to early twenties, that I decided Knightingale was as complete as it could be, without changing the storyline too much. Book I was complete, and the several branching stories were planned and partially drafted. But, with the conflicting ideas of teenage me and twenty-something year old me, the series was dizzying to work on. Thus, began the year or two long consistent writer’s block. The light that eventually helped me find my way through was Chrysalis. This series took pieces of the unfinished stories/ ideas I thought up over the past several years, and mixed them together with a new narrative. Chrysalis was officially born! It felt right, and poured out of me faster and more naturally than any of my previous book attempts. And, here we are! I write not only for myself, but for these characters and stories to reach you, to help you feel a little less alone or less misunderstood. You are not alone. I know it may feel that way, but trust me, those around you see you, more fondly than you would think. You make the world a little brighter, just by existing, by being you. Thank you, truly.